Cristina Bacchilega is a professor and the graduate program director in the Department of English at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. Her published works include Postmodern Fairy Tales: Gender and Narrative Strategies, Legendary Hawai'i and the Politics of Place: Tradition, Translation, and Tourism, and Fairy Tales Transformed? Twenty-First-Century Adaptations and the Politics of Wonder. Marie Alohalani Brown is an assistant professor and the undergraduate chair in the Department of Religion at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. Her first book, Facing the Spears of Change: The Life and Legacy of John Papa 'I'i, won the Palapala Po'okela Award for the best book on Hawaiian language, culture, and history.
Accessible yet rigorous, passionately diverse, and thoroughly spellbinding . . . Many-voiced, irresistible, and essential . . . [with] insightful story notes, generous attributions, and tantalizing bibliography. The desires and dangers of the shape-changing sea have rarely been so intelligently and inclusively showcased. --Publishers Weekly, starred review Readers fascinated by myth and diverse cultures will find much to enjoy and ponder in this gathering of mermaid tales and assessment of how these beings reflect the complexities of human nature. --Booklist A perfect gift for the mermaid lover in your life. This nuanced and comprehensive look at mermaids and water deities includes stories I had never heard of; I found it enchanting. --Zoraida Cordova, author of The Vicious Deep trilogy Superb: the first substantial anthology of mermaid stories. Nobody knows what mermaids are, but there is great enjoyment in reading tales that make us believe in them. They are alluring, demonic, vengeful, innocent, hypnotic, enchanting, and divine, and you can find all of them and more in The Penguin Book of Mermaids. --Jack Zipes, Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota Tapping into the seductive sorcery of mermaid lore, The Penguin Book of Mermaids reminds us why these aquatic beings--who awaken both dread and desire--continue to attract our attention. --Maria Tatar, Harvard University